Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted ruled Friday that Maier will appear on the May 6 Democratic primary ballot — exactly two weeks after the Stark County Board of Elections had deadlocked on the issue.

Maier got word shortly before 11 a.m. It came via email from the elections board, while in his office working on personnel and contract issues. The first phone call he made was to his wife, Misty.

“Obviously, there’s been a lot of stress on my family the past year,” he said.

They rejoiced, at least a little bit.

Forget for a moment the politics of it all. Or that his brother, Johnnie, is a former chairman of the county Democratic Party. George Maier the person has endured a bizarre career year: He was appointed sheriff, then removed nine months later when the Ohio Supreme Court ruled he was not qualified; following a month out of office, he again was appointed sheriff; now during his attempt to get elected by voters this year, local election officials couldn’t agree if he was qualified.

“It seems like there’s been a personal smear campaign against me,” said the 54-year-old Maier. “There’s a lot of .... a vendetta, some hatred ... I can’t worry about that. I try not to surround myself in that.”

Republican board members Curt Braden and William Cline voted against Maier; Democrats Sam Ferruccio Jr. and Deametrious St. John voted for him.

The Republicans said Maier fell short on section B(9)(a and b) of the state law, which requires county sheriffs to have two years of post-secondary education or to have worked as a corporal or higher within the last five years.

In Husted’s letter to the elections board, he explained he couldn’t say for sure if Maier is qualified or not.

“While I am not confident that Mr. Maier meets the legal qualifications in the Ohio Revised Code, I am also unable to clearly conclude he does not,” he wrote. “Given the law and the facts in this case, I choose to err on the side of ballot access.”

Husted prefaced his decision by writing that “the law needs more clarity,” and went on to urge state lawmakers and law enforcement officials to modernize the law to make it easier to administer. Ohio House member Ron Gerberry, D-Austintown, who wrote the law in 1987, had also told The Repository last week that maybe it’s time to revisit the text of the statute.

“The action today does not close the door to the ongoing issue of determining the qualifications of candidates for the office of sheriff, as both the courts and the voters of Stark County may further evaluate George Maier to determine whether he possesses the qualifications to serve as sheriff,” Husted concluded.

Cline said he’ll defer to the Secretary of State, adding that’s how the system is set up. But if he had to do it over again, he’d say Maier is ineligible.

“I still believe our reading of the statute and evidence was correct,” said Cline, whose day job is as an attorney at Day Ketterer.

Ferruccio, an attorney at his own law firm, sees it the opposite. In his interpretation of the law, it’s clear Maier meets the standards, he said.

“I don’t think there was substantial evidence against that,” he said.

NOT OVER YET

Another attorney intimately involved is Craig Conley, who represented Balast-Bratton in the day-long protest hearing that led to the 2-2 tie vote. He plans to file what amounts to an appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court next week.

Conley said he’ll ask justices to keep Maier off the primary ballot. He said Husted’s “wishy-washy” decision could help his cause, though he admitted it’s an uphill battle.

The sheriff's seat became open after the death of Democrat Michael McDonald. He’d won election in 2012 but was too ill to take office. The county Democratic Central Committee appointed Maier sheriff in February 2013.

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled in November that Maier had not worked recently as a “full-time” peace officer, as required by law, removing him from the sheriff's post after nine months. A month later, the same Central Committee reappointed Maier to the post he still holds.

This year, Conley on behalf of Swanson, filed suit in Common Pleas Court, seeking more than $88,000 from Maier — the amount earned in salary and benefits during his first stint as sheriff.

That case is pending.

As it stands now, Maier’s only primary competition is from write-in candidate Douglas Smith, who entered the race only because Maier was in limbo. The only Republican candidate is Larry Dordea, a former Alliance police chief, who’s currently police chief in Hartville.